Police say the white man in his early 20s threatened to “wipe out the species” in a Facebook message.

Calgary Police say they’ve arrested and charged a man for threatening to spread the coronavirus to an Indigenous community in Alberta.

Constable Craig Collins, Calgary Police’s hate crimes coordinator, told VICE that a white male in his early 20s was arrested over a viral Facebook post in which he threatened to go to a nearby reserve and spread COVID-19.

“We were approached by an elder of one of the Indigenous communities,” Collins said. “It was a threat that said he would contract coronavirus or Ebola and touch things, infect the reserve and ‘wipe out the species.’”

“We take that very seriously, particularly in today’s climate where people are already feeling anxious by the threat that COVID-19 presents. To weaponize that fear, it sends a huge message into that targeted community.”

According to police, the threat was originally sent as a private message, then appeared on an Indigenous group’s social media page. Elders reported it to police on March 22. After an investigation by Calgary Police, Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service and Blood Tribe Police Service, the young man was arrested on March 27.

Uttering threats can land someone up to five years in prison in Canada and, according to a statement by Calgary Police, the person doesn’t have to intend to carry out the threat to be found guilty.

This is the second suspected hate incident to take place in Calgary related to the coronavirus. Collins said that on March 14, a Chinese restaurant received a phone call from someone who said they were going to “kill Chinese people.”

“The suspect we’re investigating doesn’t have any known prior history with that restaurant, but when you look at the close links and proximity to [the call] and Calgary’s declared state of emergency because of the pandemic, and you consider what is happening in the United States, we’re considering this as part of the COVID-19 investigations.”

A suspect has been identified but police say they have yet to lay charges.